Reuben Gordon (1884-1949), who was born and died in the Greenwood district of western Albemarle County, was a life-long horseman.

For over forty years, he was a stable hand, coachman, and, eventually, stable manager on the farm of Randolph and Blanche Ortman. In 1911, he married Elizabeth "Lizzie" Jones Davenport (c. 1875-1973), who worked as a housemaid, perhaps for the Ortman family. The couple had no children.